Sunday Salon: February in the Rearview Mirror (3/7/10)

One week into March and Spring is definitely in the air! It hit over 50 degrees here in NY today and that felt like a heat wave! I realize I never did a February wrap-up so here it is . . .

Books Read
I am constantly impressed by the number of books some bloggers read every week - somehow I just can't seem to read that much or that quickly. I continue to struggle with finding the balance between blogging and reading but also with the realization that I will likely not read 100 books this year (according to Fyrefly's spreadsheet, as of today, I am 6 books behind where I would need to be to reach 100 books by year end). Oh well, I am enjoying what I am reading and doing my best to work it in between all my other commitments. Here is what I read in February:

Nine Parts of Desire by Geraldine Brooks
The Reading Group by Elizabeth Noble
Eternal on The Water by Joseph Monninger
Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven by Susan Jane Gilman
The Chisellers by Brendan O'Carroll (review will be posted this week)
You Can't Drink All Day If You Don't Start in the Morning by Celia Rivenbark (audiobook)

I also posted reviews of books I had read previously:

Notes From a Small Island by Bill Bryson
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai

Challenge Progress
What's In a Name 1/6
NY Challenge 0/1
South Asian Authors Challenge 2/7
451 Challenge 0/2
Gilmore Girls Challenge 0/5
Memorable Memoirs Challenge 2/4
Typically British Reading Challenge 3/4
World Religion Challenge 1/? (took the unshepherded path)
TwentyTen Challenge 4/20
Battle of the Prizes (British Version) 0/3
Ireland Challenge 2/6
Social Justice Challenge 2/12

Awards



I was the lucky recipient of two awards recently - Kris from Intertextual Chronicles gave me the One Lovely Blog Award. I received this award recently so I won't pass it on again but thanks to Kris for giving it to me!

Mummazappa from The Book Nerd Club gave me the Honest Scrap Award. For this award I have to tell you ten honest things about myself and then pass the award on to 10 bloggers:

1. Candy is my nemesis - I just love it and could eat it for every meal
2. I went skydiving once - loved it but don't see the need to do it again
3. I would love to be able to sing
4. I cannot hold a tune to save my life
5. I have run 7 marathons (but none in the last 5 years)
6. Photography is becoming a new hobby for me
7. I love to travel
8. I have a terrible library track record - I had numerous cards confiscated as a child for forgetting to return books on time
9. I have more books in my home than I could ever read (especially since I keep adding to the shelves)
10. I have an irrational fear of the dentist

I am passing this award on to:
Jennifer of Introverted Reader
Dana from Rantings of a Bookwork Couch Potato
Kals from At Pemberley
Carin from Caroline Bookbinder
Cate from The Bookshelf Project
Kristen from Booknaround
Stacy from A Novel Source
Jo Jo from Jo Jo Loves to Read
Megan from Leafing Through Life
Michelle at Literarily Speaking

Take some time to check out these blogs if they are new to you! Happy Sunday!

A Milestone, Awards and a Giveaway

Milestone
Today my blog reached a milestone - more than 1000 visits! I am amazed by the world that has been opened up to me through blogging and am grateful for every visit and every comment - they truly brighten my day! When I started this blog 6 weeks ago, I would check multiple times per day to see how many more visits had been logged since the last check - each new visit represented one more person that had listened to what I had to say (Ok - I realize some visits meant someone clicked to the site and clicked away without a single word read!) Before this begins to resemble a teary Oscar speech, on to other topics . . .

Awards

Speaking of the Oscars, I have been the grateful recipient of a few blog awards in the past week and would like to pass them on:

Carin at Caroline Bookbinder gave me The One Lovely Blog Award - yay! This one time NY-er really made my day with this recognition! She has excellent, honest reviews on her blog - check it out!

Here are the rules for the award:
Accept the award, and post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his/her blog link. Pass the award to 5 other blogs that you've newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know that they have been chosen for this award.I am passing the award on to these 5 recently discovered blogs:

1. Rhiana from Rhiana Reads is also a new blogger and she covers adult fiction on her blog with a few books for her young daughter thrown in.
   
2. Carrie from Books and Movies - I stumbled on this blog recently and found Carrie was hosting the Ireland Reading Challenge - I love books set in Ireland - it seemed like Providence!
3. JoAnn from Lakeside Musing - JoAnn and I recently read the same book and had a nice dialogue via the comments box about it - that's why I love book blogging!
4. Jenners from Find Your Next Book Here - I love her profile pic on her blog - the expression is priceless- check it out!
5. Books Anonymous is also a new blogger and she started a great discussion on book blogs ning recently about how to generate a following for her blog - drew me right in!

Double Happiness
Jennifer G from The Introverted Reader reads and reviews fiction on her blog and graced me with the Happy 101 award - thanks Jennifer - I really enjoy your blog!

Dana from Rantings of a Bookwork Couch Potato, a fellow new book blogger, granted me the same award!

The awards asks that you make a list of ten things that make you happy (why do I feel like this listing of Happy Things will come up again when I read The Happiness Project)? Here is my list:

1. The laughs of my niece and nephew
2. Traveling - anywhere!
3. Listening to my Ipod on the walk to work
4. Great friends
5. Wine
6. Fresh Air
7. Newly fallen snow (those in the DC area may take issue with this one right about now)
   
8. Central Park in the spring
9. A good book on a free afternoon
10. You guys! Thanks for stopping by and leaving your comments! (this one was lifted from Jennifer's post but I had the same sentiment and couldn't have put it better)

I am awarding this award to the following bloggers:

Mary of Sweet Bookshelf
Gaby of Starting Fresh
Sumanam of I Read . . .
Lisa of Lit and Life
Becky from Page Turners
Check out their blogs and see what makes their happiness lists!

Giveaway
What better way to mark a milestone and awards than with a giveaway! Thanks to Anna at Hachette, I have three copies of the audiobook The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova to giveaway. This audiobook is read by, among others, Treat Williams and Anne Heche - I will be listening soon as posting a review.

To enter, just leave a comment below and include an email address so I can contact you. Contest Ends Feb 28th at midnight EST Good Luck!